Connection between dry eye and contact lenses

Dry eye is a common condition that may bother a lot of people. This condition may even lead to more serious problems such as burning eye or itchy eye as well as other uncomfortable eye problems. In general, dry eye is caused by insufficient tears in the eye. This simple condition may be caused by various factors. Dry eye will probably occur when a person is exposed to specific conditions, such as smoke, extensive heat, dry air or wind. These special environments alone can cause dry eye because they accelerate tear evaporation in the eye. In addition to these particular factors, there are still unnatural reasons for dry eye.

Over the years, dry eye is widely associated with the use of contact lenses. It is true that most contact lens users have experienced dry eye more or less. It is also true that some people who never wear contact lenses also suffer from dry eye. The latter case seems to suggest that wearing contact lenses and dry eye have no direct connection. However, these two things are actually closely linked because of some obvious reasons. First of all, a contact lens usually contains much water in composition. As the time passes by, the lenses in the eye will evaporate. During this process, the water in the natural tear film covering the eye will be absorbed by contact lenses, leading to inadequate water in the eye.

Secondly, the normal eye structure designed to keep the tear film stable will probably be damaged by a long period of contact lens use. Some users may constantly rub their lenses with their eyes. This explains why people who have worn contact lenses for many years complain dry eye problem more frequently than those new users. It is not a must to stop wearing contact lenses once there is indication of dry eye. The right thing to do is following a strict routine of lens usage.